


fancy magic

by hollow_city



Series: dreams aren't what they used to be [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, College of Winterhold - Freeform, Crack Treated Seriously, Crossover, Gen, Gen or Pre-Slash, Humor, M/M, Magic, brief steph cameo, kind of, rated for language, tim is the archmage fight me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-08-07
Packaged: 2018-12-11 17:04:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11718705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hollow_city/pseuds/hollow_city
Summary: kori seeks any and all knowledge pertaining to magic, roy had no idea that conjuration was this cool, and jason is still stuck on the fact that he somehow enrolled in a college without meaning to. meanwhile, tim is just getting more and more stressed by the minute.





	fancy magic

**Author's Note:**

> i have absolutely no explanation for this. the races and schools of magic i chose for each person are based on what i think would match their characters and canonical abilities best. let's also ignore the fact that pretty much all of the names besides kori's wouldn't be names normally given to anybody from tamriel. and the title is from that line that guards always say when you're messing around in cities: "go cast your fancy magic someplace else."

"You three must be crazy."

Jason, Roy, and Kori cast glances at each from their spot at the counter in the Frozen Hearth. They're all halfway through their second bottles of mead, and someone has finally questioned their presence.

"Yeah, that sounds about right," Jason shrugs, taking another large gulp. "But please, do explain."

The man leaning against the bar casts him a look of pure disbelief. "Don't you know?"

Jason raises an eyebrow. "Obviously not, or I wouldn't've asked."

The man, a dark-haired Nord that they hadn't bothered to get a name from, frowns, but tells them anyway.

"Around a year ago, they brought something into that wretched place, and nearly blew up the whole town! Eye of Magnus, they called it. Said some Thalmor mage was using it to make himself more powerful, and it released these flying creatures all over the place. Nearly killed everyone!" he explains dramatically, and Kori turns her entire body on her stool to get a better look at him.

"The Eye of Magnus? From the legends of Ysgramor and the Atmorans?" she asks, and Jason sighs. She knows more than she lets on, and some of the things she knows sometimes still surprise him.

The man's eyes widen. "I couldn't tell you! They said they had it removed from the College, but if you ask me-"

Jason interrupted, "we didn't," but the man spoke over him like he hadn't.

"-They still have it up there somewhere! Those mages up there never did know where to draw the line, probably still don't," he says, shaking his head with disgust. "There's a reason nobody comes to Winterhold anymore."

Roy chugs the rest of his mead and drops the empty bottle on the counter. "What a shame. Got anything you can tell us about the place, besides the fact that it's considered the shithole of this corner of Skyrim?"

The man, who clearly falls behind in the intelligence department, screws up his nose and hums with consideration. The three travelers watch him with blank stares until he lifts a finger and his face lights up.

"Of course! How could I have forgotten? During the incident with the Eye, the Archmage was killed. There's a new one, hear he's quite the character. Unfortunately, they seem to be coming across quite a few new members recently," he rambles, his lip curling. "As if they actually need it."

Jason clears his throat. "Thanks. We'll be going now." He doesn't sound too impressed, and he isn't.

The three of them gather their gear and Roy drops a few gold pieces on the counter before they make for the door.

“If you don’t come out of there alive, don’t say I didn’t warn you!” the man calls across the tavern, and Jason throws up a hand in his direction, rolling his eyes.

As they descend the front steps and begin to trudge through the snowy street of Winterhold, Kori begins to smile.

“I cannot believe we are finally here! I’ve been dreaming about this day since… oh, I cannot remember!” she gushes, before tapping Roy’s arm and pointing frantically in the direction of the College. “Look, look, we’re so close!”

They can’t help their own smiles at her excitement, because she hasn’t stopped talking about attending the school since she met a Dark Elf who spent a few years there. They’d met the mage in Morrowind, which meant they still had quite a bit of traveling to do before they could get to Winterhold, but they knew they had to go there.

Even after everything Kori had been through in the short time before they met her, she had never asked for much. So when she pleaded with them to come with her back to Skyrim, they found no reason to turn her down.

Neither of them plans on attending with her, considering Roy is an archer and Jason specializes in dual blades. They wanted to see the inside of the College though, because they had been around to hear the tales as well.

“The new Archmage, do you think he is nice?” Kori asks, worrying her bottom lip as they approach the bridge. “Oh, sweet Mara, I don’t think I can do this.”

She suddenly stops, digging the heels of her boots into the ground. She wraps her arms around herself and pulls her hood further over her face, both shielding herself from the biting cold and hiding her face from them as it burns even darker than usual.

“Oh, come on,” Roy scoffs. “We walked all the way from another fucking province because you wanted this _that bad_.”

She lets her arms drop to her side and lets out a long breath. “Okay. You are right.”

After another few moments of gathering her thoughts, she starts to climb the bridge with Roy and Jason following close after her. When they reach the platform right beneath the arch, an Altmer woman greets them with a tight smile.

“Halt. Who are you, and what do you seek?” she asks like she’s reading from a script.

Kori steps forward with a bright smile. “My name is Koriand’r, and I wish to learn everything I possibly can about the different schools of magic. Destruction and Restoration are the ones that interest me the most.”

She looks like she wants to continue, but the woman cuts in before she can.

“Do you? That is not an unusual goal. It would seem that the College has what you seek. The question now is what you can offer the college,” she counters, lacing her fingers together behind her back. “Not just anyone is allowed inside. Those wishing to enter must show some degree of skill with magic. A small test, if you will.”

Jason and Roy exchange slightly panicked glances from the corners of their eyes. They hadn’t anticipated _that_. Neither of them has ever really tried much when it comes to magic, besides shooting flames from their palms for fun when they’d had too much to drink.

“I will take your test,” Kori agrees, rubbing her hands together and cracking her knuckles in preparation. While she has never been a master of any school, she has a natural gift for magic and uses it whenever she can.

“Excellent,” the woman says, her smile morphing into something a little less tense. After a moment of thought, she speaks again. “The Magelight spell is useful to any mage, not just those specializing in Alteration. Can you cast one on the seal on the ground?”

Kori’s grin slowly melts into a nervous smile as she nods enthusiastically.

It’s obvious, by her robes, that the woman before them is a master, and the thought of messing up a spell in front of her makes Kori’s stomach turn.

She brings her hands up and while one still holds the same sparking purple light as usual - she favors electricity over frost or fire - the other now holds a sparkling vaguely blue light. Her fingers curl and her hand shakes slightly before she throws it forward towards the seal. A ball of light travels from her palm to the ground and sticks, and the woman hums in approval.

“Well done. I think you’ll be a wonderful addition to the College,” she says, offering a small, yet true, smile. It dims when she looks over Kori’s shoulder to see the Nord and Wood Elf behind her. “You two. Step forward.”

Admittedly, they are a little bit intimidated by her, because they don’t know the extent of her skills, which school of magic she even focuses on, or if she’s about to throw them off the bridge for showing up without any skills to speak of.

“Do you wish to enter?” she asks, looking them both up and down with a critical eye. “If you do, you will be subject to the same test.”

They look at each other again, and Roy shrugs loosely, easy-going as ever.

“Sure,” he replies, and the mage narrows her yellow eyes.

She motions for Kori to step up beside her, and once she does, points one long finger at Jason.

“You,” she snaps, looking entirely unimpressed with what she sees. “Fear is a spell many mages use, despite it being an Illusion spell that most apprentices learn. Do you know it?”

“Uh… no,” he says eloquently. It won’t be the end of the world if he can’t get in, but the more he thinks about it, the more interested he becomes in actually learning about magic.

The woman makes a disapproving noise, but reaches into the satchel at her waist and produces a small spell tome. It’s dark orange and holds the symbol for the Illusion school.

“Here. If you believe you deserve to enter the College, then you will cast this spell the same as your friend did,” she tells him, stepping back and placing her hands on her hips.

Jason clears his throat and flips through the tome as fast as he can, painfully aware of the three sets of eyes on him. When he finally flips to the last page, he at least _thinks_ he has a vague grasp at the spell. He’s never cast anything like it before, never had to, so he has no idea what he’s doing.

He lifts his hands like Kori had, and tries to copy her stance the best he can. He runs through the notes on the spell in his mind and his hands shake, but after a few moments, a rose-red light flickers into existence between his fingers. He wants to smile at his own success but refrains, and instead, focuses on making the light brighter.

After a few moments of deep thought, he throws his right hand forward, and the spell launches from his palm and bursts against the stone seal. His eyes widen and he lowers his hands immediately, straightening up again.

Jason had absolutely no idea he could do that.

The mage nods. “Your form could use some work, but it was acceptable. You may enter as well.”

He offers a weak smile and steps forward to stand beside Kori. It leaves Roy to face the woman’s wrath alone, but he doesn’t look too put-off by it.

“Last and definitely least,” she says, and Roy’s lip juts out in a pout, “you. Not many mages enter into the Conjuration field anymore. What do you know about it?”

“Nothing,” he says honestly.

She sighs in exasperation but brandishes another spell tome.

“The flame atronach. A helpful asset in battle and quite a sight to see. Cast it properly, and I will allow you to enter with your friends.”

Roy takes more time to read through the tome than Jason did, and when he finishes and hands it back, his eyes are burning with determination.

He repeats the same process the other two had, and after a few moments of trying to get it right, throws a ball of dark purple and black light at the ground. A large sphere of the color expands between them and with a soft sound, a flame atronach blurs into existence.

It spins around and sticks its arms out as it twirls, before it floats closer to Roy loyally, leaving a short-lived trail of fire behind. Roy watches it with wide, awe-filled eyes, but the woman gives him no time to study it because she snuffs it out with a powerful ice-spike that they barely see her cast before she’s putting her hands down.

“Well, I suppose you all have your strong suits. I believe you all will make useful additions to the college. Follow me,” she tells them, before introducing herself as _Faralda._ “I’ll lead you across the bridge. Once you’re inside, you’ll want to speak with the Archmage. The procedure was once to send you off to the Master Wizard, but recently, things have been changing, and the Archmage prefers to keep a much more hands-on approach.”

They follow her over the not-so-sturdy bridge, watching as she casts a spell to open the gates, and gestures for them to enter before her.

The second they enter the courtyard, they’re overwhelmed. It’s well lit, with several balls of light sticking to various walls, and the pool in the middle glows bright blue. The statue of Shalidor looms behind it, eerily lit by the pool.

Faralda looks around, skimming over the several mages littering the area, and her eyes fall on a fairly short wizard standing at the far end of the floor. He stands with both his hands out and with a Khajiit man across from him.

“That is the Archmage. I will take you to him, but we must wait, because they are working on a new technique and spell, and we mustn’t interrupt them,” Faralda says.

Jason finally recognizes the dark blue and white robes of the Archmage, but the guy looks much more casual than he expected. The hood of the robes are down, revealing dark black and messy hair. While he wears no gloves or gauntlets, Jason’s eyes are immediately drawn to the _Dragonscale_ boots that he wears. He’s never gotten his hands on any piece of dragon armor, but he’s always admired it.

As they get closer than can hear what the two are saying.

“Okay, just let me cast this, and then you can cast that, and hopefully you won’t kill me, right?” the Archmage says, making gestures with his hands. The Khajiit sighs and nods, waiting with his arms crossed and his tail flicking back and forth with annoyance. He doesn’t look angry, though, so Jason doesn’t think he’s too bothered.

They watch as the Archmage takes a deep breath and pulls his arms through the air, pale blue-green tendrils following his every move until he’s standing with his back arched slightly and his arms out by his sides. He seems to draw from the very air around him until he drops into a crouch and slams his hand down. He jumps back up and powerful, pale green, transparent armor shimmers around him.

“Alright, let’s do this,” he says, holding his arms out.

The Khajiit clears his throat and rasps, “hold still,” before using both hands to create a bright orange, almost yellow ball of fire in between his palms. He throws it forward to cast it, but it explodes, and both he and the Archmage throw their forearms up over their faces to shield themselves from the sudden blast of heat.

They both slowly come back up, and the Archmage winces.

“Okay. That didn’t go very well. Let’s pick this up another day, when I don’t feel like my eyebrows have been burnt off,” he says, hitting the Khajiit in the shoulder good naturedly.

“J’zargo waits eagerly,” he says dryly, before heading towards one of the doors.

The Archmage spins around to meet them, and he is definitely _not_ what they were expected. He’s a High Elf and he’s _short_ , and he’s incredibly young. He has to be at least Jason’s age, if not younger, and Jason is only twenty-two.

“Faralda! New apprentices?” he asks, smiling, almost shyly.

“Of course,” she says. “Would you like any more help, or may I return to my post?”

The Archmage shrugs. “I think I’ll be fine. You can head back. Get some food first, though, you keep missing lunch.”

Faralda sighs, but her pale yellow ears turn slightly red as she leaves.

“Welcome to the College! I’m Tim Drake, and I’m the Archmage… as you probably guessed,” he says, chuckling sheepishly. “What schools are you three interested in?”

“Destruction and Restoration,” Kori says excitedly.

“Conjuration,” Roy says immediately. Just seeing that atronach brought about entirely new ideas inside his head.

“Illusion,” Jason says because he doesn’t know what else to say. It’s the only school he knows.

They introduce themselves one at a time, and Tim nods along, crossing his arms over his chest, almost like he’s trying to make himself smaller. He sticks out like a sore thumb, with his incredibly pale yellow skin and short stature, so it doesn’t do much.

“Kori,” he says, using the nickname like she’d requested, “you’ll want to see Colette Marence, she’s our resident master in the Restoration school. Faralda, who you’ve already met, specializes in Destruction, so you’ll probably want to see her, too.”

Kori nods along, her face alight with happiness.

“Roy, I think you’ll want to talk to Phinis Gestor, who specializes in Conjuration. Or maybe Stephanie Brown, who’s fairly high up there, too,” he tells him, his eyes flicking around as he searches for the people he’s speaking about.

Then his eyes travel to Jason, and he immediately feels uncomfortable. His gaze is intense and calculated, but not unkind. “Illusion, huh? Luckily for you, we have two mages here who specialize in that. Drevis Neloren and Cassandra Cain. You should talk to both of them.”

Jason nods dumbly.

“But,” he straightens up, “talk to Tolfdir first. He’s our Master Wizard, and he’ll give you your robes and tell you where everything is. You won’t have any classes for the first few days so you can get used to the place and get settled in, but he’ll explain all of that.”

Tim uncrosses his arms and smiles again. It’s slightly uncomfortable, like he’s not used to it.

“I have prior commitments that I have to see to, but feel free to look around before you report to Tolfdir. I’m sure I’ll see you three around somewhere soon,” he says, before taking a step back.

Roy and Kori depart immediately, both incredibly into the idea of getting started right away, but Tim reaches out and rests a hand on Jason’s shoulder.

“Could I talk to you for a moment?” he asks, and Jason doesn’t miss the light blush dusting his pale yellow cheeks.

“Uh, yeah,” he murmurs and turns back to face him.

“You don’t really wanna be here, do you?” Tim questions, a knowing smirk pulling at his lips. “You look incredibly lost.”

Jason rubs the back of his head with a gauntlet covered hand. “Okay, look, I didn’t know I was going to be attending a College until about twenty minutes ago, so I’m still trying to process all of this.”

Tim shrugs. “Well, Faralda let you in, so you must have something going for yourself. She’s got a good eye for that kind of thing. I’m sure you’ll fit in just fine.”

Jason sighs, “yeah, we’ll see about that.”

The Archmage looks like he wants to say something else, but before he can, a shimmering and decidedly purple skeever scurries past. Tim brings his hand up to his face and pinches the bridge of his nose, placing the other hand on his hip as he sighs in exasperation.

“ _Stephanie_! What have I said about resurrecting the dead skeevers you find in the Midden?”

“Uh, not to?”

Jason looks back and forth with wide eyes.

_What the hell has he just signed up for?_

**Author's Note:**

> a little thing to note: i've literally never written roy or kori before. i have no idea how i did. also, i know faralda basically stops being the gatekeeper after you go through the first time, but let's just pretend she doesn't do that.


End file.
